Cameroon: Soldiers Shot Dead 8 People And Injured Dozens.

Cameroon: Soldiers Shot Dead 8 People And Injured Dozens.Soldiers shot dead at least eight people and wounded others in Cameroon’s restless English-speaking regions on Sunday during protests by activists calling for its independence from the majority Francophone nation.

Soldiers shot and killed a demonstrator and wounded two others who had raised the blue and white flag of the Ambazonia separatist movement in the town.

Another woman was killed inside her home, Fonyuy said, without giving further details.

The protests, which began late last year, have become a lightning rod for opposition to President Paul Biya’s 35-year rule.

Donatus Njong Fonyuy, mayor of the town of Kumbo, said five prisoners were killed at around 6 a.m. (0500GMT) after the jail where they were being held caught fire.

“We don’t know what caused the fire in the prison … But five prisoners were killed by soldiers. Two were wounded by bullets and are at the hospital,” he told Reuters, adding that another two civilians were also injured.

Police and army officials were not immediately available to comment on the shootings.

We won’t use violence unless there is major cause. There are numerous risks, even terrorist risks.

We’re keeping calm,” a security source, who declined to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to journalists, said earlier in the day.

Writing on his official Facebook account, President Biya condemned the violence.

“Let me make this very clear: it is not forbidden to voice any concerns in the Republic. However, nothing great can be achieved by using verbal excesses, street violence, and defying authority,” he said.

Orders.

Cameroon goverment, had banned all gatherings of more than four people, ordered bus stations, eateries and shops to shut and forbade movement between different parts of the English-speaking regions ahead of the protests.

The government also ordered Cameroon’s border with Nigeria closed for the weekend.

Businesses were shuttered in the regions’ main cities, Buea and Bamenda, where military helicopters circled overhead. The security deployment included troops from the Cameroonian army’s Rapid Intervention Brigade, a unit that typically fights Islamist Boko Haram militants in the country’s north.

One of the protester who refused to expose (name) said, “The military, which is supposed to protect lives and property, has turned into our greatest nightmare.